Oklahoma City—Developer Continential Properties Inc. has started work on Springs at Memorial in Oklahoma City. The 224-unit apartment community is being built on a 12.5-acre infill parcel at 13331 North MacArthur Blvd., with scheduled completion slated for the third quarter of 2015. The developer tapped McShane Construction Co. to build the property; Phillips Partnership is the project architect.

The development will be comprised of 10 buildings, with six of them incorporating attached parking garages on the ground level. The garden-style community will offer 32 studios, 80 one-, 92 two- and 20 three-bedroom units. Each apartment will feature granite countertops in the kitchens and bathrooms, and in-unit washers and dryers.

The property will also include a community clubhouse with a 24-hour fitness center and outdoor swimming pool surrounded by seating and entertainment areas. Additional common amenities will include a leash-free dog park and a car care center. All together, there will be on-side parking for 367 vehicles.

According to MPF Research, Oklahoma City’s apartment is reasonably healthy, though it has competition from for-sale housing, which is fairly affordable in the metro area. After recording net negative demand for apartments in the previous two quarters, demand turned positive again in the second quarter of 2014, the company reports, with the metro absorbing 823 units.

As a result, occupancy increased 0.9 points, bringing the rate for metro Oklahoma City to 93.5 percent. Holding back occupancy during second quarter were units built prior to 1980, which recorded combined occupancy of 91.6 percent. Still, metro-area apartment operators enjoyed rental increases of 0.6 percent quarter-over-quarter and 2.1 percent year-over-year during 2Q 2014.